Tuesday, June 28, 2016
Week Nine - Final Thougts
Being a new librarian, I was surprised at how little was completely new to me from this training - but, that is absolutely a positive reflection on BCPL and on the other librarians at my branch and not on me personally! Appeal factors, sub-genres, Goodreads, EarlyWord...I had already been clued in to so many things by my coworkers, who wanted to make sure I had the tools do the best job I could, that by the time the training came around it was more a refresher than anything else. Like many, it seems, I particularly enjoyed the subgenres section, which I thought was an effective way of giving me an overview of large swaths of fiction with which I was unfamiliar. I also really liked our practice RA conversation assignments from early on in the training; I think that I really needed that kind of practice, and would have liked to have done more of it. Overall, I am really happy with the training - I think (at least I hope!) it has made me more confident in Reader's Advisory, and more knowledgeable about the world of book culture in general.
Week Nine - Book Trailers
From reading up a bit on book trailers (I had never heard of them before), I get the distinct sense that they have increased in quality considerably since the medium was first introduced. That being said, I also had a hard time finding lots of adult book trailers from recent months and even years. The most popular book trailers on YouTube were all uploaded over a year ago, and the vast majority of articles and compilations I found dated from the late 2000s to the early 2010s (around the time our training blog was created, no?), and focused mostly on young adult books. This interested me, coming right from our exploration of teen fiction two weeks ago. I noticed, first, that almost every single one of the most viewed book trailers on YouTube were those posted by EpicReads, HarperCollins' YA site that I ragged on in an earlier assignment (whoops!). It isn't so surprising to me that YA fiction has more of an audience for book trailers, and neither am I surprised that children's book trailers still seem to be doing well (see sites like TeachingBooks.net and Book Trailers for Readers - particularly as school projects. Although they are a little more painful to watch, these amateur endeavors might, I think represent the niche that book trailers are most useful for. With the growing appeal of spending hours surfing YouTube, I feel like many children will be more willing to and excited about watching a video teaser for a book than listening to a librarian like me talk to him or her about it.
But if book trailers still seem to hold so much appeal for younger readers, why have they not caught on as well with adults? It certainly seem that the hype about adult book trailers has gone down in the last few years, so much so that I could hardly find anything to report from the past year or so. I had to go several pages into my Google search results to find more than a single article from this past year on adult book trailers - and many of them griped about how "Book Trailers are Ruining Everything"! One article in particular caught m attention; written for Slate this past February, it was one of the newest pieces I could find, and it asked the question "why are book trailers for literary fiction so self-loathing?"
The observation reminded me of a similar controversy that continually springs up in the art world, when artists (from Pablo Picasso to the British graffiti artist Banksy) seem to betray the integrity of their craft by "selling out" to consumer culture in order to make a profit. As with art, so with books: the "romantic view of literature," as the author of the Slate article puts it, leads us to imagine that "the artists crafting these books are...impervious to marketing strategies." "Creating a book trailer," on the other hand, "means acknowledging the financial dimension" of the literary industry, and those of us who love reading don't want to think of our books as no more than a product to be marketed and consumed.
But why should books be considered inviolable for advertising? The main focus of all the gripe I'm hearing about book trailers is that it is impossible to condense the complexities of a novel into a 2-to-3-minute video clip - but is that really the intent of a book trailer? Just like a movie trailer, a book trailer doesn't pretend to include all the complexities and intricacies of the book itself, but only to whet your appetite, to make you more likely to read it in its entirety. Although I'm not so sure that the appeal of adult book trailers has stood the test of time, I am certainly not opposed to well-made ones that effectively gain readership for quality authors - or even poorly-made ones, if they can do the same thing.
But if book trailers still seem to hold so much appeal for younger readers, why have they not caught on as well with adults? It certainly seem that the hype about adult book trailers has gone down in the last few years, so much so that I could hardly find anything to report from the past year or so. I had to go several pages into my Google search results to find more than a single article from this past year on adult book trailers - and many of them griped about how "Book Trailers are Ruining Everything"! One article in particular caught m attention; written for Slate this past February, it was one of the newest pieces I could find, and it asked the question "why are book trailers for literary fiction so self-loathing?"
The observation reminded me of a similar controversy that continually springs up in the art world, when artists (from Pablo Picasso to the British graffiti artist Banksy) seem to betray the integrity of their craft by "selling out" to consumer culture in order to make a profit. As with art, so with books: the "romantic view of literature," as the author of the Slate article puts it, leads us to imagine that "the artists crafting these books are...impervious to marketing strategies." "Creating a book trailer," on the other hand, "means acknowledging the financial dimension" of the literary industry, and those of us who love reading don't want to think of our books as no more than a product to be marketed and consumed.
But why should books be considered inviolable for advertising? The main focus of all the gripe I'm hearing about book trailers is that it is impossible to condense the complexities of a novel into a 2-to-3-minute video clip - but is that really the intent of a book trailer? Just like a movie trailer, a book trailer doesn't pretend to include all the complexities and intricacies of the book itself, but only to whet your appetite, to make you more likely to read it in its entirety. Although I'm not so sure that the appeal of adult book trailers has stood the test of time, I am certainly not opposed to well-made ones that effectively gain readership for quality authors - or even poorly-made ones, if they can do the same thing.
Tuesday, June 21, 2016
Week Eight
I was so excited to delve into this week's assignments - I was one of those readers who never read nonfiction until I happened upon a few titles and realized to my astonishment that I really enjoyed them. I absolutely agreed with the opinions expressed by several readers in the two articles we read that story and writing style can be more important than the fiction/nonfiction divide when choosing a good book.
When I sat down to pick my four examples, I realized quickly how many nonfiction books I've read over the past few months! Here are my final picks, though:
Mellencamp: An American Troubadour by David Masciotra (Biography)
This book is perfect for anyone looking for more than just the bare-bones story of John Mellencamp's life. This book reads as much like a work of music criticism as it does a biography, charting how the artist's life experiences influenced his music and vice-versa. The author does a great job of weaving these two modes of writing together, to create a believable narrative for Mellencamp's life that leaves readers feeling like they've come to know him from the inside out. This book can be found in the Biography section in BCPL under "Mellencamp."
Banana: The Fate of the Fruit that Changed the World by Dan Koeppel (History)
I'd recommend this book to anyone who enjoys quirky reads. Unlike survey histories which can often lose a reader's interest because of their breadth, this book's unique lens makes it endlessly memorable, and gives its readers the gift of being the only ones wise to the fact that bananas as we know them might well be extinct in our lifetimes (tragic, but true). The book can be found in the 300s with the books on economics (its specific call number is 333.95 K), but I might just as easily categorize this book as "Science" nonfiction for all the technical details it provides on the history of banana husbandry (seriously, it's a thing). I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoyed the recently published nonfiction work Hair, which also traces the history of a common everyday item.
What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions by Randall Monroe (Science)
This book is highly entertaining even for a lay reader, but especially for anyone with enough knowledge and interest in science and physics to follow the author's hilarious extrapolations. I would absolutely recommend it as leisure reading for any of my overworked engineering student friends, who would enjoy it all the more because they actually understand the science behind it. The book lives up to both halves of its title, combining the whimsical absurdity of the original xkcd webcomic with the serious scientific background of its author to create the perfect specimen of entertaining but educational nerd culture, which can be found at the very beginning of the "Pure Science" Dewey section, under call number 500 M.
When I sat down to pick my four examples, I realized quickly how many nonfiction books I've read over the past few months! Here are my final picks, though:
Mellencamp: An American Troubadour by David Masciotra (Biography)
This book is perfect for anyone looking for more than just the bare-bones story of John Mellencamp's life. This book reads as much like a work of music criticism as it does a biography, charting how the artist's life experiences influenced his music and vice-versa. The author does a great job of weaving these two modes of writing together, to create a believable narrative for Mellencamp's life that leaves readers feeling like they've come to know him from the inside out. This book can be found in the Biography section in BCPL under "Mellencamp."
Banana: The Fate of the Fruit that Changed the World by Dan Koeppel (History)
I'd recommend this book to anyone who enjoys quirky reads. Unlike survey histories which can often lose a reader's interest because of their breadth, this book's unique lens makes it endlessly memorable, and gives its readers the gift of being the only ones wise to the fact that bananas as we know them might well be extinct in our lifetimes (tragic, but true). The book can be found in the 300s with the books on economics (its specific call number is 333.95 K), but I might just as easily categorize this book as "Science" nonfiction for all the technical details it provides on the history of banana husbandry (seriously, it's a thing). I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoyed the recently published nonfiction work Hair, which also traces the history of a common everyday item.
What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions by Randall Monroe (Science)
This book is highly entertaining even for a lay reader, but especially for anyone with enough knowledge and interest in science and physics to follow the author's hilarious extrapolations. I would absolutely recommend it as leisure reading for any of my overworked engineering student friends, who would enjoy it all the more because they actually understand the science behind it. The book lives up to both halves of its title, combining the whimsical absurdity of the original xkcd webcomic with the serious scientific background of its author to create the perfect specimen of entertaining but educational nerd culture, which can be found at the very beginning of the "Pure Science" Dewey section, under call number 500 M.
MySecret: A PostSecret Book by Frank Warren (Overcoming Adversity)
This compilation of anonymous postcard confessions is an "easy read" only in the sense that it can be devoured in less than half an hour - but its contents are often anything but "easy." While several of the postcards are lighthearted, many reveal the dark secret's of the sender's past or the deep struggles of their present. The abundance of illustrations makes it great for readers with short attention spans, while its frank, raw tone may appeal to readers who want to think honestly about the abundance of struggles people deal with, day in and day out. Hearing, in short snippets, the confessions of perfect strangers, who could easily be the person you pass on the street every day, can be comforting to those dealing with painful secrets of their own, to know that they're not alone. Reflective of this therepeutic benefit, this book can be found among the pharmacology and therepeutics books with call number 615.851 W.
This compilation of anonymous postcard confessions is an "easy read" only in the sense that it can be devoured in less than half an hour - but its contents are often anything but "easy." While several of the postcards are lighthearted, many reveal the dark secret's of the sender's past or the deep struggles of their present. The abundance of illustrations makes it great for readers with short attention spans, while its frank, raw tone may appeal to readers who want to think honestly about the abundance of struggles people deal with, day in and day out. Hearing, in short snippets, the confessions of perfect strangers, who could easily be the person you pass on the street every day, can be comforting to those dealing with painful secrets of their own, to know that they're not alone. Reflective of this therepeutic benefit, this book can be found among the pharmacology and therepeutics books with call number 615.851 W.
Sunday, June 19, 2016
Week Seven
Assignment 1
I was really impressed with the flow chart from the Lawrence Public Library. I found it very thorough, and was impressed with the variety of elements it covered, any one of which might have been "the thing" that hooked a reader. I especially loved the inclusion of some classic works at the end!
Assignment 2
The first article I read was "New Adult: Needless Marketing-Speak Or Valued Subgenre?" from Publisher's Weekly. In this article, the author described this new genre and the issues surrounding it as "slippery," "fluid," "in flux." I definitely agree; reading her article makes me think only more strongly that trying to pin down such a nebulous thing as age is a losing battle, and that trying to force it into neatness by subjecting it to endless subdivisions is a time-consuming and - in my opinion - pointless endeavor. Because age is so fluid, there will of course be gray areas between any two publishing classifications (just ask parents of young children, who have to figure out how to place their children along a spectrum of difficulty levels in children's literature!) But how do we know how far is too far to go with these subdivisions? Once the can of worms is opened, it is easy to imagine the slippery slope forming. We covered genre-bending books last week - how do we classify those books that are "sort of romance, but also sort of mystery?" Why does BCPL separate out its science fiction books but not its urban fiction? Some subjectivity is always going to creep into these supposedly objective organizational and institutional policies, but I think that at the core of each should be the needs of the customer, and in this article, Lucia Macro, whom the author quotes, admitted that the "New Adult" classification is useful primarily to publishers, and not for readers. In fact, the second article I read, "Who's buying Teen Books?" affirmed that many of these readers are not "new adults," but adults between ages 30 and 44. If they can bridge the age gap without any hesitation or utter humiliation, then 18-to-23-year-olds should be able to do it as well.
The second article I mentioned, "Who's Buying Teen Books? Lots and Lots of Adults" really struck a chord with me when it said that YA books appeal to adults for the "less complicated fashion" of their writing. Perhaps Teen books are less intimidating to adult readers who are less confident in their literary prowess or who just want the "quick literary fix without the padding." Perhaps teens are a kind of sweet spot audience, and the fact that many YA books are well-written enough to satisfy an adult reader's thirst for meaningful story and compelling characters yet simple and straightforward enough not to become heady or esoteric, means that these books strike the perfect balance. The appeal of depth without complication also struck me as I read several middle grade novels for our "Battle of the Books" event. What I enjoyed about reading these titles was exactly what the author describes in this article: simple and easy-to-read writing that incorporated meaningful commentary on serious subject matter.
By contrast, Stackedbooks.org seems to be much more librarian-oriented. The two administrators, Kelly and Kimberly, are currently or have been librarians, and with drop-down menu items like "In the Library," "Professional Development," and "The Publishing World," it isn't hard to see where these librarian's focus for the site lie. One article I particularly enjoyed demonstrates this: a list of 6 Hardcover to Paperback Makeovers is fascinating to me, but not what I would think a teen reader would care to read about. Likewise with their more serious features: the most recent post, summarizing Kelly's contributions to BookRiot, one of which in particular also demonstrated the very librarian-tailored atmosphere of the site: "'Stories will Help You Understand Yourself': An Interview about Censorship with Kate Messner." This article revolves around the censorship of the YA book Messner recently published, The Seventh Wish, and analyzes the place of age-appropriate engagement with serious topics in children's and YA literature. Although I'm not saying that children and teens wouldn't be interested in this topic, this sounds a lot more like something a library employee would look for in a blog post - in fact the author directly encourages those who "work with children or teenagers and books" to read it.
Assignment 4
In both Harper Collins' and Random House' teen sections, I found a preponderance of sci-fi and fantasy, as well as a tendency to include dark subject matter in realistic fiction. Although Harper Collins' teen site, EpicReads, was disappointing both for it's location (tucked away at the end of a drop-down menu and swallowed up by the several children's categories it was lumped with), and for content (much of which was vapid vapid quizzes and shallow posts that seemed to exist more to make the site a Buzzfeed wannabe than a serious site about books), underneath it all it did provide a good perspective on these two teen book trends. Their list of the "17 Most Anticipated YA Books to Read in June," for example, reflects these tendencies with several fantasy and dystopian novels such as My Lady Jane and the Marked Girl, alongside dark, serious realistic fiction like The Loose Ends List amd Run. Random House follows the same pattern, with fantasy bestsellers including the Eragon and 100 Cupboards series and dark or serious realistic fiction such as The Boy in the Striped Pajamas and a Penny from Heaven. Some newer releases (I say newer, not new because one was released in 2014!) include All the Bright Places and Brandon Sanderson's Reckoners series, prime examples of realistic fiction with serious subject matter and action-packed dystopian sci-fi.
I was really impressed with the flow chart from the Lawrence Public Library. I found it very thorough, and was impressed with the variety of elements it covered, any one of which might have been "the thing" that hooked a reader. I especially loved the inclusion of some classic works at the end!
Assignment 2
The first article I read was "New Adult: Needless Marketing-Speak Or Valued Subgenre?" from Publisher's Weekly. In this article, the author described this new genre and the issues surrounding it as "slippery," "fluid," "in flux." I definitely agree; reading her article makes me think only more strongly that trying to pin down such a nebulous thing as age is a losing battle, and that trying to force it into neatness by subjecting it to endless subdivisions is a time-consuming and - in my opinion - pointless endeavor. Because age is so fluid, there will of course be gray areas between any two publishing classifications (just ask parents of young children, who have to figure out how to place their children along a spectrum of difficulty levels in children's literature!) But how do we know how far is too far to go with these subdivisions? Once the can of worms is opened, it is easy to imagine the slippery slope forming. We covered genre-bending books last week - how do we classify those books that are "sort of romance, but also sort of mystery?" Why does BCPL separate out its science fiction books but not its urban fiction? Some subjectivity is always going to creep into these supposedly objective organizational and institutional policies, but I think that at the core of each should be the needs of the customer, and in this article, Lucia Macro, whom the author quotes, admitted that the "New Adult" classification is useful primarily to publishers, and not for readers. In fact, the second article I read, "Who's buying Teen Books?" affirmed that many of these readers are not "new adults," but adults between ages 30 and 44. If they can bridge the age gap without any hesitation or utter humiliation, then 18-to-23-year-olds should be able to do it as well.
The second article I mentioned, "Who's Buying Teen Books? Lots and Lots of Adults" really struck a chord with me when it said that YA books appeal to adults for the "less complicated fashion" of their writing. Perhaps Teen books are less intimidating to adult readers who are less confident in their literary prowess or who just want the "quick literary fix without the padding." Perhaps teens are a kind of sweet spot audience, and the fact that many YA books are well-written enough to satisfy an adult reader's thirst for meaningful story and compelling characters yet simple and straightforward enough not to become heady or esoteric, means that these books strike the perfect balance. The appeal of depth without complication also struck me as I read several middle grade novels for our "Battle of the Books" event. What I enjoyed about reading these titles was exactly what the author describes in this article: simple and easy-to-read writing that incorporated meaningful commentary on serious subject matter.
I agree with Sue Corbett's opinion in her article "YA Comes of Age," that the spectrum of depth and quality in YA fiction is no different than the similar spectrum to be found in adult fiction. Sure, there are bound to be Teen books that suffer from all the flaws the genre's naysayers highlight: over-simplicity, vapidity, shallowness, mediocrity...But YA fiction does not hold a monopoly on easy satisfaction; there is plenty of quick, easy-to-read stories with not a lot of depth in adult fiction, but we know enough not to generalize this element to the entire canon of adult literature. The same is true of YA literature; as Meg Wolitzer asserted in her article "Look Homeward, Reader: A Not-So-Young Audience for Young Adult Books," "there’s just far too much variety in Y.A. to define it or dismiss it."
Assignment 3
I really enjoyed exploring Teenreads.com - they seem to make a real effort to come up with fun and engaging articles and features (I'm especially thinking of their "Side by Side" section, which is very clever, and the "Ultimate Reading List," which I wish I'd had as a teen trying to find "the best" books to read!) I appreciate the variety in their book reviews, but I also find that their intended audience can be easily gleaned by what kind of books they include and how often. By far their most numerous reviews are from the "Young Adult 12+" and "Youth Fiction" categories, with a large percentage being Fantasy and Graphic Novels. I also like that they have a Teen Board, which would hopefully keep their readership involved.
I really enjoyed exploring Teenreads.com - they seem to make a real effort to come up with fun and engaging articles and features (I'm especially thinking of their "Side by Side" section, which is very clever, and the "Ultimate Reading List," which I wish I'd had as a teen trying to find "the best" books to read!) I appreciate the variety in their book reviews, but I also find that their intended audience can be easily gleaned by what kind of books they include and how often. By far their most numerous reviews are from the "Young Adult 12+" and "Youth Fiction" categories, with a large percentage being Fantasy and Graphic Novels. I also like that they have a Teen Board, which would hopefully keep their readership involved.
By contrast, Stackedbooks.org seems to be much more librarian-oriented. The two administrators, Kelly and Kimberly, are currently or have been librarians, and with drop-down menu items like "In the Library," "Professional Development," and "The Publishing World," it isn't hard to see where these librarian's focus for the site lie. One article I particularly enjoyed demonstrates this: a list of 6 Hardcover to Paperback Makeovers is fascinating to me, but not what I would think a teen reader would care to read about. Likewise with their more serious features: the most recent post, summarizing Kelly's contributions to BookRiot, one of which in particular also demonstrated the very librarian-tailored atmosphere of the site: "'Stories will Help You Understand Yourself': An Interview about Censorship with Kate Messner." This article revolves around the censorship of the YA book Messner recently published, The Seventh Wish, and analyzes the place of age-appropriate engagement with serious topics in children's and YA literature. Although I'm not saying that children and teens wouldn't be interested in this topic, this sounds a lot more like something a library employee would look for in a blog post - in fact the author directly encourages those who "work with children or teenagers and books" to read it.
Assignment 4
In both Harper Collins' and Random House' teen sections, I found a preponderance of sci-fi and fantasy, as well as a tendency to include dark subject matter in realistic fiction. Although Harper Collins' teen site, EpicReads, was disappointing both for it's location (tucked away at the end of a drop-down menu and swallowed up by the several children's categories it was lumped with), and for content (much of which was vapid vapid quizzes and shallow posts that seemed to exist more to make the site a Buzzfeed wannabe than a serious site about books), underneath it all it did provide a good perspective on these two teen book trends. Their list of the "17 Most Anticipated YA Books to Read in June," for example, reflects these tendencies with several fantasy and dystopian novels such as My Lady Jane and the Marked Girl, alongside dark, serious realistic fiction like The Loose Ends List amd Run. Random House follows the same pattern, with fantasy bestsellers including the Eragon and 100 Cupboards series and dark or serious realistic fiction such as The Boy in the Striped Pajamas and a Penny from Heaven. Some newer releases (I say newer, not new because one was released in 2014!) include All the Bright Places and Brandon Sanderson's Reckoners series, prime examples of realistic fiction with serious subject matter and action-packed dystopian sci-fi.
Tuesday, May 31, 2016
Week Six - Assignment 1
"Stop, You're Killing Me!" is like one-stop shopping for mysteries; the site's near-exhaustive grasp on the genre makes it a staggering thing to explore for a novice mystery-reader like me, but even if you don't recognize most of the names on their lists of authors and titles, exploring all the crevices of this site is still vastly entertaining. And while perusing the site itself can occasionally feel like drinking from a fire hose, their free bi-weekly newsletter breaks up all the information into more manageable chunks.
The site's biggest strength is, without a doubt, its indices. They provide lists of mystery authors and their series sorted by location, historical period, genre, and the protagonist's profession and background. I had already pegged the mystery genre as one prone to extreme niche-ification, but the variety of those niches was made clear to me as I discovered that I could, if I wanted, find mysteries featuring a one-armed counselor to King Arthur (series by Tony Hays), a 60-something widowed Quaker meeting clerk (series by Irene Allen), several series featuring ex-jockeys turned sleuths (by Dick Francis, Sassacer Hill, John Francome, and Bill Shoemaker), and even a reluctant witch librarian (series by Shirley Damsgaard)! What these indices taught me most evidently was the breadth of the mystery genre, which I had suspected but never really seen before. It seems like this site might have a few suggestions to add to the sub-genres Prezi!
The site's biggest strength is, without a doubt, its indices. They provide lists of mystery authors and their series sorted by location, historical period, genre, and the protagonist's profession and background. I had already pegged the mystery genre as one prone to extreme niche-ification, but the variety of those niches was made clear to me as I discovered that I could, if I wanted, find mysteries featuring a one-armed counselor to King Arthur (series by Tony Hays), a 60-something widowed Quaker meeting clerk (series by Irene Allen), several series featuring ex-jockeys turned sleuths (by Dick Francis, Sassacer Hill, John Francome, and Bill Shoemaker), and even a reluctant witch librarian (series by Shirley Damsgaard)! What these indices taught me most evidently was the breadth of the mystery genre, which I had suspected but never really seen before. It seems like this site might have a few suggestions to add to the sub-genres Prezi!
Week Six - Assignment 3: Sub-genres and Mash-ups
Sub-genres
Urban fiction is definitely one genre with which I have zero experience. But from the few patrons I've had ask about it, I can recognize one or two names. Deja King comes first to mind, who wrote the Bitch series which features a young ambitious woman willing to do whatever it takes to gain the power she wants and protect the family she loves. Another Urban fiction author I've heard of is K'wan, who exemplifies the social aspect of the genre: he began writing as a form of therapy, and now works as a motivational speaker, mentoring at-risk children. And finally, I have discovered Sister Souljah, whose novels about a young man named Midnight are among the most popular in the Urban Fiction genre. Also a hip-hop artist and activist, Sister Soujah uses her novels to engage with serious issues of poverty, race, and violence in American ghettos. In general, I've learned that this element of social commentary (or at least a gritty realistic portrayal of the urban lifestyle) is one of the most prominent hallmarks of the genre.
Within the subgenre "comic fantasy" stand three major authors whose names came up quick and often: Terry Pratchett (who wrote the Discworld series as well as Good Omens with Neil Gaiman), Douglas Adams (who wrote Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy) and Piers Anthony (who wrote the Xanth series). Writers in this genre are famous for their puns (the name Xanth apparently is a play on the author's name, Piers Anthony), and often include parodies of other famous fantasy works, which result in a plethora of "inside jokes" that form the basis of these books' appeal. But reading this genre is also an opportunity to enjoy the imagination of fantasy without the accompanying weight of serious content - I get the impression that they are almost the "beach reads" of the fantasy genre.
The final subgenre I chose to explore was Supernatural Romance, and J.R. Ward was an obvious choice to typify this genre - it seemed like every other book we have was written by her! The Black Dagger Brotherhood series was not only humongous (14 novels with #15 set to appear in 2017), but its storyline combines the intimate interactions of individual characters with the larger-than-life events they are caught up in. The world politics of vampires and vampire slayers reminded me of the war between vampires and werewolves in Twilight, and it seems like a mainstay of the supernatural romance genre. My second author, Nalini Singh, I recognized from our audiobook collection, where she has nearly an entire shelf to herself! Her Guild-hunter and Psy-Changeling series introduce original beings such as the archangels and the Psy, a contrast the more common vampire stories. A final familiar name from this genre is one I've mentioned before: Sherrilyn Kenyon. Her books are world-building romances, set in a universe which (like J.R. Ward and Nalini Singh) deals in supernatural politics as well as individual passion. This seems to be a trend among the titles I've looked at, and is perhaps one of the main draws of the subgenre.
Mash-Ups
My first mash-up is Guilty Pleasures by Laurell K. Hamilton. I came across this title both when I was looking up urban fiction and when I was researching supernatural romance! This genre-bending mystery takes place among the competing vampire street empires in an alternate-universe American city. While investigating a series of murders committed by vampires, Anita Blake, a vampire hunter, falls in love with master vampire Jean-Claude, and eventually helps him upseat the current master vampire of the city, making her new lover king of the streets. Urban fiction, supernatural romance, mystery...what genres doesn't this book dip into??
In a very different vein, more genre mash-ups can be found among the works of Vannetta Chapman, who wrote two Amish mystery series. Both series combine the very specific setting and daily life and customs of an Amish village with the plot and pacing of a whodunit. One series - the Shipshewana Amish Mysteries - even centers on a pair of quilt-makers, which hearkens to another, albeit slightly different, mystery sub-genre: the knitting mystery.
Urban fiction is definitely one genre with which I have zero experience. But from the few patrons I've had ask about it, I can recognize one or two names. Deja King comes first to mind, who wrote the Bitch series which features a young ambitious woman willing to do whatever it takes to gain the power she wants and protect the family she loves. Another Urban fiction author I've heard of is K'wan, who exemplifies the social aspect of the genre: he began writing as a form of therapy, and now works as a motivational speaker, mentoring at-risk children. And finally, I have discovered Sister Souljah, whose novels about a young man named Midnight are among the most popular in the Urban Fiction genre. Also a hip-hop artist and activist, Sister Soujah uses her novels to engage with serious issues of poverty, race, and violence in American ghettos. In general, I've learned that this element of social commentary (or at least a gritty realistic portrayal of the urban lifestyle) is one of the most prominent hallmarks of the genre.
Within the subgenre "comic fantasy" stand three major authors whose names came up quick and often: Terry Pratchett (who wrote the Discworld series as well as Good Omens with Neil Gaiman), Douglas Adams (who wrote Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy) and Piers Anthony (who wrote the Xanth series). Writers in this genre are famous for their puns (the name Xanth apparently is a play on the author's name, Piers Anthony), and often include parodies of other famous fantasy works, which result in a plethora of "inside jokes" that form the basis of these books' appeal. But reading this genre is also an opportunity to enjoy the imagination of fantasy without the accompanying weight of serious content - I get the impression that they are almost the "beach reads" of the fantasy genre.
The final subgenre I chose to explore was Supernatural Romance, and J.R. Ward was an obvious choice to typify this genre - it seemed like every other book we have was written by her! The Black Dagger Brotherhood series was not only humongous (14 novels with #15 set to appear in 2017), but its storyline combines the intimate interactions of individual characters with the larger-than-life events they are caught up in. The world politics of vampires and vampire slayers reminded me of the war between vampires and werewolves in Twilight, and it seems like a mainstay of the supernatural romance genre. My second author, Nalini Singh, I recognized from our audiobook collection, where she has nearly an entire shelf to herself! Her Guild-hunter and Psy-Changeling series introduce original beings such as the archangels and the Psy, a contrast the more common vampire stories. A final familiar name from this genre is one I've mentioned before: Sherrilyn Kenyon. Her books are world-building romances, set in a universe which (like J.R. Ward and Nalini Singh) deals in supernatural politics as well as individual passion. This seems to be a trend among the titles I've looked at, and is perhaps one of the main draws of the subgenre.
Mash-Ups
My first mash-up is Guilty Pleasures by Laurell K. Hamilton. I came across this title both when I was looking up urban fiction and when I was researching supernatural romance! This genre-bending mystery takes place among the competing vampire street empires in an alternate-universe American city. While investigating a series of murders committed by vampires, Anita Blake, a vampire hunter, falls in love with master vampire Jean-Claude, and eventually helps him upseat the current master vampire of the city, making her new lover king of the streets. Urban fiction, supernatural romance, mystery...what genres doesn't this book dip into??
In a very different vein, more genre mash-ups can be found among the works of Vannetta Chapman, who wrote two Amish mystery series. Both series combine the very specific setting and daily life and customs of an Amish village with the plot and pacing of a whodunit. One series - the Shipshewana Amish Mysteries - even centers on a pair of quilt-makers, which hearkens to another, albeit slightly different, mystery sub-genre: the knitting mystery.
Week Five
Trying to catch up after falling a few weeks behind, I offer my lovely week-five post, which I had written but never actually posted! Enjoy :)
Assignment 1:
My biggest take-away from NPR books is that it has some of the most eye-catching and engrossing book reviews I've ever seen. From the way it lays out its ordinary book reviews - a short-and-sweet one-liner to draw you in to a 500-800 word analysis-rich review - to its special features and clever organizational flair, everything about the site seems expertly designed to draw me in and keep me reading.
The year's review of books, which recently came out for 2015, fascinated me, as it offered unique but highly useful categories like "Seriously Good Writing," "Book Club Ideas," and "Rather Long"/"Rather Short." It's use of "Eye-Opening" as a category even helped me put a name to an appeal factor I often look for but had never known how to express! And the way you can mix and match categories to find the perfect book I found very helpful - and rather reminiscent of WhichBook.
Other features on the site equally interesting, and I was disappointed to find that they hadn't been updated in almost two years: "Three Books," which groups titles thematically in clever ways, such as out-of-body experiences, mid-life crises, and the darker side of quilting; "My Guilty Pleasure," where authors share the books they are embarrassed to admit to reading and loving; and "This Week's Must Read," which pairs a recent headline with a book that offers some sort of commentary on it. I only wish these had been kept up to date, so I could see what each is recommending now!
But sometimes I felt, when browsing happily through all of this engrossing material, that so much effort was put into making the features sleek, eye-catching, and engaging, that perhaps it detracts from the site's practicality. For example, a recent special series on transportation-related books would definitely keep my attention, but as a librarian, whose main reason for reading reviews is not to find a book for myself (after all, I am surrounded by books and book-lovers everyday, surely I don't need any extra help from NPR!), but instead to prepare for reader's advisory, would this kind of set-up be most useful? Contrast this with EarlyWord, and I see the great difference between book resources for librarians and the general populace.
EarlyWord I found to be a bit cluttered. Especially after the glossy feel of NPR's book page, which was directed more toward my pleasure and amusement, it felt like this site was all business. And rightly so, as a site dedicated to keeping librarians and library professionals abreast of the book scene for the benefit of their customers. Once I employed a bit of willpower and went digging, I found a lot of really useful info. The site (and the sites it link to) seems like a fairly reliable place for me to find out more about the books I recognize from our branch's shelves. This makes it a good alternative to NPR Books where, although I really enjoyed its reviews, I found very little overlap with the books circulating in my branch. There, even when book was reviewed weeks ago and touted as a great read, I seldom saw it on a shelf display, or heard it mentioned in conversation with a customer. But on EarlyWord, I found lots of short blurbs about the books whose covers I see all the time, but never got around to picking up and perusing. While I may continue looking at NPR's reviews because they are so engaging and well-written, I think I will rely mostly on EarlyWord from now on to fill in the gaps in my Reader's Advisory knowledge.
Assignment 2:
I've learned to identify "what's popular" in my branch by what names I know now that I had never heard of nine months ago when I started working in a library. Having come right from college where I spent all my time reading for class, I don't think I even knew who James Patterson was, let alone such now-familiar names as Janet Evanovich, Harlan Coben, David Baldacci, John Grisham, Clive Cussler...Although I have still not read many of these popular authors, the fact that I recognize their names and can describe vaguely the appeal factors of their books tells me that I've had enough conversations about them to retain at least a little. Coming to the branch as a kind of "clean slate," I think that how my name recognition skills have grown is a pretty fair representation of my customers' preferences. In a way, they've molded me to fit their needs!
Assignment 3:
Since I confess that I still largely judge books by their covers, I chose Everyone Brave is Forgiven to examine from the Amazon "Best of the Month" list. As a student of history, I was drawn to the striking image of bombers over London on the cover - and I was not disappointed.
The book's setting, and to an extent its plot, made me think of such recent hits as All the Light We Cannot See and The Nightingale. War, as a powerful catalyst of human action, has always been a fruitful backdrop for literature, but it seems that popular authors have been taking particular advantage of that lately, and in really wonderful ways. Turning the attention away from the daring escapades of soldiers on the battlefield and toward the smaller intimate struggles has opened the "War story" genre to a wider audience, and I think that readers who have recently been turned onto this category of books will be eager to get a hold of this new novel. Plus, the fact that the story is based on the love letters sent between the author's grandparents is an added bonus that will likely pique readers' interests!
Assignment 1:
My biggest take-away from NPR books is that it has some of the most eye-catching and engrossing book reviews I've ever seen. From the way it lays out its ordinary book reviews - a short-and-sweet one-liner to draw you in to a 500-800 word analysis-rich review - to its special features and clever organizational flair, everything about the site seems expertly designed to draw me in and keep me reading.
The year's review of books, which recently came out for 2015, fascinated me, as it offered unique but highly useful categories like "Seriously Good Writing," "Book Club Ideas," and "Rather Long"/"Rather Short." It's use of "Eye-Opening" as a category even helped me put a name to an appeal factor I often look for but had never known how to express! And the way you can mix and match categories to find the perfect book I found very helpful - and rather reminiscent of WhichBook.
Other features on the site equally interesting, and I was disappointed to find that they hadn't been updated in almost two years: "Three Books," which groups titles thematically in clever ways, such as out-of-body experiences, mid-life crises, and the darker side of quilting; "My Guilty Pleasure," where authors share the books they are embarrassed to admit to reading and loving; and "This Week's Must Read," which pairs a recent headline with a book that offers some sort of commentary on it. I only wish these had been kept up to date, so I could see what each is recommending now!
But sometimes I felt, when browsing happily through all of this engrossing material, that so much effort was put into making the features sleek, eye-catching, and engaging, that perhaps it detracts from the site's practicality. For example, a recent special series on transportation-related books would definitely keep my attention, but as a librarian, whose main reason for reading reviews is not to find a book for myself (after all, I am surrounded by books and book-lovers everyday, surely I don't need any extra help from NPR!), but instead to prepare for reader's advisory, would this kind of set-up be most useful? Contrast this with EarlyWord, and I see the great difference between book resources for librarians and the general populace.
EarlyWord I found to be a bit cluttered. Especially after the glossy feel of NPR's book page, which was directed more toward my pleasure and amusement, it felt like this site was all business. And rightly so, as a site dedicated to keeping librarians and library professionals abreast of the book scene for the benefit of their customers. Once I employed a bit of willpower and went digging, I found a lot of really useful info. The site (and the sites it link to) seems like a fairly reliable place for me to find out more about the books I recognize from our branch's shelves. This makes it a good alternative to NPR Books where, although I really enjoyed its reviews, I found very little overlap with the books circulating in my branch. There, even when book was reviewed weeks ago and touted as a great read, I seldom saw it on a shelf display, or heard it mentioned in conversation with a customer. But on EarlyWord, I found lots of short blurbs about the books whose covers I see all the time, but never got around to picking up and perusing. While I may continue looking at NPR's reviews because they are so engaging and well-written, I think I will rely mostly on EarlyWord from now on to fill in the gaps in my Reader's Advisory knowledge.
Assignment 2:
I've learned to identify "what's popular" in my branch by what names I know now that I had never heard of nine months ago when I started working in a library. Having come right from college where I spent all my time reading for class, I don't think I even knew who James Patterson was, let alone such now-familiar names as Janet Evanovich, Harlan Coben, David Baldacci, John Grisham, Clive Cussler...Although I have still not read many of these popular authors, the fact that I recognize their names and can describe vaguely the appeal factors of their books tells me that I've had enough conversations about them to retain at least a little. Coming to the branch as a kind of "clean slate," I think that how my name recognition skills have grown is a pretty fair representation of my customers' preferences. In a way, they've molded me to fit their needs!
Assignment 3:
Since I confess that I still largely judge books by their covers, I chose Everyone Brave is Forgiven to examine from the Amazon "Best of the Month" list. As a student of history, I was drawn to the striking image of bombers over London on the cover - and I was not disappointed.
The book's setting, and to an extent its plot, made me think of such recent hits as All the Light We Cannot See and The Nightingale. War, as a powerful catalyst of human action, has always been a fruitful backdrop for literature, but it seems that popular authors have been taking particular advantage of that lately, and in really wonderful ways. Turning the attention away from the daring escapades of soldiers on the battlefield and toward the smaller intimate struggles has opened the "War story" genre to a wider audience, and I think that readers who have recently been turned onto this category of books will be eager to get a hold of this new novel. Plus, the fact that the story is based on the love letters sent between the author's grandparents is an added bonus that will likely pique readers' interests!
Thursday, May 19, 2016
Week Four
I had been hearing about Goodreads for a few years before being hired by BCPL, when I finally joined, and since then it's proved super useful for helping me keep track of what I've read, what I'm reading, and (perhaps most importantly) what I can read next.
As it has from the very beginning, Goodreads' Listopia blew me away: I feel like I could spend hours looking around in there, and would undoubtedly come up with WAY too many new books for my "to-read" shelf. But Listopia has also proved a life-saver for reader's advisory; the lists have gotten me out of more than one tough situation (I even found a list for one of last week's scenarios: "Great Vampire Books That Aren't Twilight"!). I find that I turn to Goodreads more quickly than to Novelist or other sources when a customer is looking for a specific sub-genre that would likely not have its own keyword elsewhere. I had a customer come in the other day, for example, who was participating in BCPL's Reading Challenge and was looking for a Maryland author appropriate to her reading level. I probably could have found this out other ways, but I went immediately to Goodreads because I knew Listopia would have a list for that.
I also like Listopia because it is reader-mediated. I feel much more confident, if I do not know a genre well, recommending a book that other readers have added overwhelmingly to a "best books" list than one that received a good review or has been selling well.
When it comes to Goodreads' recommendations, however, I am less blown-away. The site seems to favor only certain appeal factors and ignore others. I, who enjoy books more for their tone, mood, and characters, than for their storyline and setting, find this frustrating. East of Eden, for example, is not my favorite book because I really enjoy multi-generational family sagas set in the American West; I loved it because of its philosophical bent, the slow build up toward its deep message, and the rawness of the characters. Likewise, I am not likely to pick up another piece of medieval Sufi poetry because that is a genre I necessarily enjoy; but the Conference of the Birds is on my favorites shelf because of the richness of its imagery and the depth of its observations. On the whole, I've stopped looking at Goodreads' recommendations, because I think I can find more helpful suggestions elsewhere.
As it has from the very beginning, Goodreads' Listopia blew me away: I feel like I could spend hours looking around in there, and would undoubtedly come up with WAY too many new books for my "to-read" shelf. But Listopia has also proved a life-saver for reader's advisory; the lists have gotten me out of more than one tough situation (I even found a list for one of last week's scenarios: "Great Vampire Books That Aren't Twilight"!). I find that I turn to Goodreads more quickly than to Novelist or other sources when a customer is looking for a specific sub-genre that would likely not have its own keyword elsewhere. I had a customer come in the other day, for example, who was participating in BCPL's Reading Challenge and was looking for a Maryland author appropriate to her reading level. I probably could have found this out other ways, but I went immediately to Goodreads because I knew Listopia would have a list for that.
I also like Listopia because it is reader-mediated. I feel much more confident, if I do not know a genre well, recommending a book that other readers have added overwhelmingly to a "best books" list than one that received a good review or has been selling well.
When it comes to Goodreads' recommendations, however, I am less blown-away. The site seems to favor only certain appeal factors and ignore others. I, who enjoy books more for their tone, mood, and characters, than for their storyline and setting, find this frustrating. East of Eden, for example, is not my favorite book because I really enjoy multi-generational family sagas set in the American West; I loved it because of its philosophical bent, the slow build up toward its deep message, and the rawness of the characters. Likewise, I am not likely to pick up another piece of medieval Sufi poetry because that is a genre I necessarily enjoy; but the Conference of the Birds is on my favorites shelf because of the richness of its imagery and the depth of its observations. On the whole, I've stopped looking at Goodreads' recommendations, because I think I can find more helpful suggestions elsewhere.
Tuesday, May 10, 2016
Whichbook
I recently came across Whichbook, - an offshoot service of Opening the Book, a library design and supply company - that generates book recommendations when readers indicate the appeal of certain factors on a spectrum.
What I like about Whichbook is that, unlike something like Goodreads' suggestions and "What Should I Read Next?" it doesn't rely solely on your previous reads. Sometimes, you just want something new, and more of the same just won't cut it! I also like the spectrum approach to appeal factors, and the unconventional categories they use: "expected/unexpected," "larger than life/down to earth," "easy/demanding," etc. Best of all, this approach doesn't exclude any genres, so it may help to diversify a user's reading experience! As the site puts it: "If you know you want a particular genre - crime, say, or fantasy - there are lots of websites to give you information. But what are the things readers long to know and are unable to find out?"
Despite these advantages, their database is extremely limited: in order to be included, a book must be either fiction or poetry, published in the last 10 years, and must have been read and reviewed by one of their staff. They also like to concentrate on "books people won't find by themselves," and so don't include many of the most popular and widely-read titles. This means that a great number of the suggestions the site makes aren't available in our catalog!
Even with its major drawbacks, however, I'd recommend checking out Whichbook, if only because it's a lot of fun to play with!
What I like about Whichbook is that, unlike something like Goodreads' suggestions and "What Should I Read Next?" it doesn't rely solely on your previous reads. Sometimes, you just want something new, and more of the same just won't cut it! I also like the spectrum approach to appeal factors, and the unconventional categories they use: "expected/unexpected," "larger than life/down to earth," "easy/demanding," etc. Best of all, this approach doesn't exclude any genres, so it may help to diversify a user's reading experience! As the site puts it: "If you know you want a particular genre - crime, say, or fantasy - there are lots of websites to give you information. But what are the things readers long to know and are unable to find out?"
Despite these advantages, their database is extremely limited: in order to be included, a book must be either fiction or poetry, published in the last 10 years, and must have been read and reviewed by one of their staff. They also like to concentrate on "books people won't find by themselves," and so don't include many of the most popular and widely-read titles. This means that a great number of the suggestions the site makes aren't available in our catalog!
Even with its major drawbacks, however, I'd recommend checking out Whichbook, if only because it's a lot of fun to play with!
Monday, May 9, 2016
Week Three
To do this week's assignment, I had to resist the urge not to jump on NoveList or go digging elsewhere on the internet to find a good suggestion - I wanted to recreate as nearly as possible the kind of response I would actually give when faced with a customer. This means that I had to rely on my first impressions and the books that come most quickly to mind. They may not be the ideal suggestions, but they do reflect my skill level as it stands - which is, I hope, not that bad!
Scenario 1
What I noticed:
Engaging story
Strong female character
Detailed descriptions
Introspective
Touches on serious content
Inspirational
What I'd recommend:
The Road to Little Dribbling by Bill Bryson. Like many of the books I recommend to patrons, I heard about this one on Between the Covers! This means that I haven't actually read it myself, but from the review I read, it sounds like the author's self-reflective journey through a foreign country, and his detail-rich account of the places he visited might appeal to this reader.
Scenario 2
What I noticed:
Fast-paced
Supernatural
What I'd recommend:
This one was the hardest for me to come up with suggestions for - not least because I don't think I've ever read any vampire books, including the Twilight series! However, I do know about - and have recommended before - the works of Sherrilyn Kenyon, whose fast-paced, intense, and often racy novel series feature supernatural creatures, including "daimons" - which are basically vampires.
Scenario 3
What I noticed:
History
Exotic locales
Survival stories
Fast-paced
What I'd recommend:
P.T. 109 by William Doyle. This nonfiction title is also a thrilling survival story in an exotic locale centering on a U.S. President. An added bonus is that, if the patron enjoyed the book, he or she could always follow up with the 1963 film starring Cliff Robertson!
Scenario 1
What I noticed:
Engaging story
Strong female character
Detailed descriptions
Introspective
Touches on serious content
Inspirational
What I'd recommend:
The Road to Little Dribbling by Bill Bryson. Like many of the books I recommend to patrons, I heard about this one on Between the Covers! This means that I haven't actually read it myself, but from the review I read, it sounds like the author's self-reflective journey through a foreign country, and his detail-rich account of the places he visited might appeal to this reader.
Scenario 2
What I noticed:
Fast-paced
Supernatural
What I'd recommend:
This one was the hardest for me to come up with suggestions for - not least because I don't think I've ever read any vampire books, including the Twilight series! However, I do know about - and have recommended before - the works of Sherrilyn Kenyon, whose fast-paced, intense, and often racy novel series feature supernatural creatures, including "daimons" - which are basically vampires.
Scenario 3
What I noticed:
History
Exotic locales
Survival stories
Fast-paced
What I'd recommend:
P.T. 109 by William Doyle. This nonfiction title is also a thrilling survival story in an exotic locale centering on a U.S. President. An added bonus is that, if the patron enjoyed the book, he or she could always follow up with the 1963 film starring Cliff Robertson!
Tuesday, May 3, 2016
Week Two
After reading Neal Wyatt's article on appeal factors, I found that I most enjoyed Joyce Saricks' approach, focusing on adrenaline, intellect, emotion, and landscape as the four major appeal areas. I was surprised to find, after writing these three book reviews, that in each case my enjoyment of the book was rooted in the intellect - now that I know which group appeals to me, it's time to become more conscious of the others!
Anyway, here are my three book-talks...
Steal Across the Sky by Nancy Kress
Anyway, here are my three book-talks...
Steal Across the Sky by Nancy Kress
I first encountered Nancy Kress through her short story "Pathways," published in the 2014 Year's Best Science Fiction. Centering on a young woman with a rare degenerative brain disease, I enjoyed the story for its effective blending of biomedical technobabble and human interest. Wanting to read more from this author, I turned to Steal Across the Sky, which had the most captivating tagline of all of Kress's works: "The aliens appeared one day, built a base on the moon, and put an ad on the internet." These aliens, who call themselves the Atoners, claim to have done humanity a grievous wrong and ask for 21 volunteers to act as their "witnesses." Three of these volunteers - Cam, Lucca, and Soledad - visit the twin planets Kular A and Kular B and attempt to tease out what the Atoners meant for them to see as they interact with the local populations.
Although this book features rich and varied characters and several exotic extraterrestrial cultures, the driving force behind this book is really the mystery of what the Atoners are atoning for. Fast-paced and engaging, clues come fast and quick once the witnesses touch down that help unravel this burning question, but unlike a traditional mystery the big reveal, when it comes, doesn't bring satisfaction and closure. Instead, the action returns to Earth for an emotionally-charged second act that focuses more on the human than the alien, as the witnesses and the rest of the planet respond to the revelation. Overall, this book is a genre-bending mystery-turned-social commentary wrapped in science fiction that is engrossing, easy to read, and over too soon.
Shylock is My Name by Howard Jacobson
Shylock is My Name by Howard Jacobson
As soon as I heard about the new Hogarth series of Shakespeare stories re-imagined by modern authors I knew I would have to read them all, and so far I have not been disappointed. This book (and its predecessor The Gap of Time by Jeannette Winterson) beautifully tread the line between Shakespeare's timeless tales and the developments of the modern world. Both Winterson and Jacobson manage to shed new light on the characters Shakespeare created without going too far afield; their stories are firmly their own, but there are definitely "a-ha" moments where the lights come on and you realize exactly where you are standing in the original play.
Jacobson makes this push-and-pull between the historic source material and the modern world all too evident by transporting the character of Shylock from the pages of Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice and making him a house guest of his main character, Simon Strulovich. That the impossibility of this feat is never addressed perhaps speaks to a fantastical strain in the novel, but the serious and lengthy conversations that ensue between these 17th century and 21st century Jewish fathers spare nothing for profundity, plumbing the depths of what it means to be Jewish, what it means to be a father, and what it means to be human. Jacobson's masterful (and often darkly humorous) dialogue reveals Shylock as more than just the stereotype he is often in danger of becoming, and instead paints him as a man of incisive wit and passion.
While this masterful adaptation of The Merchant of Venice doesn't attempt (naively) to tie up all the unanswered questions of the original play, it does offer new insights into the characters and their stories that will delight avid Shakespeare-readers. However, the book would appeal equally to readers who are strangers to the Bard; its raw portrayal of complex and flawed characters is perfect for readers who like character-driven existential dramas and who can stay afloat in a heavily literary writing style.
Lucifer's Hammer by Jerry Pournelle and Larry Niven
Lucifer's Hammer by Jerry Pournelle and Larry Niven
A mailman who manages to survive the end of the world with his career intact...a scientist who preserves human knowledge in the most surprising of ways...a preacher who uses disaster as a springboard for a new gospel message...in these and many other personalized stories, it is the individual experiences that intertwine in this sci-fi novel to create a compelling picture of life after the sky has fallen, and a believable world after armageddon.
Unlike many apocalyptic stories, which place the moment of total destruction as either the opening scene or the finale, Lucifer's Hammer makes armageddon (here brought on by a comet which collides with the Earth) the centerpiece of the book, which gives it a very distinctive pacing. Beginning with a slow, plodding exposition that becomes incrementally more frenetic as the chances of collision grow larger, the pace of the story mirrors the reality of life for the characters, which then shifts into high gear with the comet's impact, nearly dead-center in the book. Once "the Hammer" falls, events unfold in rapid succession, yet the author's maintain a startling standard of realism, following the repercussions and consequences of choices made mere days after "Hammerfall" as they play out over weeks and months in the new post-apocalyptic civilization.
The large cast of characters that populate this story might make one worry about getting quantity over quality in terms of characterization, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that no character seemed to exist only to serve a purpose in the plot. Shifting perspectives frequently among a dozen or so characters whose personalities become more familiar and nuanced over time, the authors allow us to see into characters' minds and hearts through introspective moments which make the story more relatable and believable.
If I might dare to borrow terminology from the fantasy sub-genres, I would say that Lucifer's Hammer is very firmly a work of "low" science fiction - not in the sense that it is unsophisticated or sub-par, but because it takes place in a recognizable modern world, instead of "a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away..." Its projection of a classic sci-fi trope - the end of the world coming via collision - into a very detailed and realistic world make it a supremely believable work that would appeal even to non-sci-fi readers for its depth of characterization and complexity of plot.
Tuesday, April 19, 2016
Royalty Books
http://www.royalty.nu/royal/books.html
Royalty books may be a very narrow sub-genre, but I just stumbled across this awesome site for all things royalty (including books) and thought I'd share. Along with pages on the history of various monarchies and the latest news on the lives of monarchs, the books page lists recently published books on royalty around the world as well as book lists for specific countries. So if you are ever confronted with a customer (like I was today) looking for a mysteriously untitled book about the British monarchy, this might be a good place to look!
Royalty books may be a very narrow sub-genre, but I just stumbled across this awesome site for all things royalty (including books) and thought I'd share. Along with pages on the history of various monarchies and the latest news on the lives of monarchs, the books page lists recently published books on royalty around the world as well as book lists for specific countries. So if you are ever confronted with a customer (like I was today) looking for a mysteriously untitled book about the British monarchy, this might be a good place to look!
Week One
I
was not very surprised by my results with the Sporcle quizzes; among the covers I got
right for both quizzes, most were either books I'd read in
school or else sci-fi/fantasy titles.
It's because of that very obvious prejudice for sci-fi and fantasy that I figured it would be best if I avoided picking a resource from that genre to review (as much as I wanted to!) Instead, I've chosen to learn more about the mystery genre with the site "Stop, You're Killing Me!" While I don't really like that they update their book reviews each month by uploading a whole bunch of reviews all at once, I'm intrigued by the location, job, historical, diversity, and genre indices, and hope to look more into these as the training progresses.
I'm also choosing NPR as my book resource, mostly because I like the length of the reviews I've looked at - they're just long enough to give a good summary, but short enough that I don't lose interest :P I also love Early Word, but I already receive their newsletter and I figure something new is in order!
It's because of that very obvious prejudice for sci-fi and fantasy that I figured it would be best if I avoided picking a resource from that genre to review (as much as I wanted to!) Instead, I've chosen to learn more about the mystery genre with the site "Stop, You're Killing Me!" While I don't really like that they update their book reviews each month by uploading a whole bunch of reviews all at once, I'm intrigued by the location, job, historical, diversity, and genre indices, and hope to look more into these as the training progresses.
I'm also choosing NPR as my book resource, mostly because I like the length of the reviews I've looked at - they're just long enough to give a good summary, but short enough that I don't lose interest :P I also love Early Word, but I already receive their newsletter and I figure something new is in order!
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